Conclusion

TEAC did not let us down with this new drive shipment. CD-W516EB generally supports the performance standards established by the competition. Additionally it gives excellent seeking times and good transfer rates. As for its DAE performance, the drive cannot reach the top due to it's limited 32x (max) speed. Also, TEAC CD-W516EB supports Z-CAV reading technology and is capable of ripping a 94min audio CD. Someone might accuse TEAC CD-W516EB for giving extended writing times. The O.P.C issue is the answer which affects to the writing time with an almost 20sec delay. A second thought about this would convince you that this trade off in time is balanced by the writing results. The quality burn provided assures the produced CD will be readable in the most of the players you might test it.

TEAC CD-W516EB failed to read aquadately copy protected CDs. The drive read SefeDisc and LaserLock protected CDs in a very low speed, but treated the SecureROM protected media in a better way since it was faster. Lastly, the very good price of TEAC CD-W516EB will certainly motivate the consumer for having the drive. The $155 price for the OEM version is very attractive and kicks off the competition making TEAC CD-W516EB one of the lowest priced 16X drives available.